Jury Sees Video Inside Joliet Home Where Seven Died

A Will County jury watched videos on Wednesday from inside a Joliet house where seven members of one family were killed in January 2024.

The footage was shown during the trial of Jon Hansen, 26, of Shorewood, who is charged with the first-degree murder of Toyosi Bakare, 28, and the attempted murder of Mario Guerrero, 42. The two men were shot on Jan. 21, 2024 in the Joliet area.

Prosecutors say Hansen was with 23-year-old Romeo Nance when Bakare and Guerrero were shot. About four hours before that, Nance had shot and killed seven relatives across two homes on West Acres Road, according to Joliet police. Nance died on Jan. 22, 2024, by suicide after a confrontation with members of the U.S. Marshal's Task Force in Texas, trial testimony stated. Joliet police have said no other suspects have been identified in the West Acres Road homicides.

Videos shown Wednesday depict Nance inside a residence on West Acres Road that day. One camera inside a home showed Nance holding a rifle and moving quickly up the stairs. His 3-year-old son can be heard repeatedly calling out, "Daddy why?" Nance walked past the boy and looked out a window. Joliet police later located the child safe with his mother, 24-year-old Kyleigh Cleveland-Singleton, who faces a charge of obstructing justice in the investigation. A doorbell camera video from Jan. 21 showed Nance approaching the residence with a firearm. A third video showed two people inside looking out a window as Nance, carrying a rifle, walked up the stairway to meet them. Nance is heard saying, "I love y'all but.." and "Mom's dead." The video ends there.

Hansen's attorneys also showed the jury crime scene photographs from West Acres Road, including photos of the victims. One of the seven killed was Nance's mother, Tameaka Nance, 47. The defense argues Nance alone is responsible for the Bakare and Guerrero shootings, saying Hansen was a "survivor" of Nance rather than an accomplice. On Tuesday, during a motion for a directed finding, attorney Jeff Tomczak said Nance was upset about losing his son to his mother and planned to kill her and his family.

Prosecutors say the Bakare and Guerrero shootings were unrelated to the West Acres Road killings. They say the two men were shot because they were mistaken for members of the Vice Lords gang. Hansen is an affiliate of the Milwaukee Kings gang and opposes the Vice Lords, prosecutors said, adding that evidence shows Hansen recruited Nance to travel to known Vice Lords territories in the Joliet area to shoot members of that gang. Over the past week, prosecutors showed the jury messages from Hansen's phone to Nance and others soliciting them to "spin the lords" or "spank the lords." A state gang expert testified those phrases refer to drive-by shootings and violence. Prosecutors also presented evidence about the removal of messages from Hansen's phone, a change to his phone number, and requests to others he communicated with to unsend messages. On Monday, the jury watched Hansen's police interrogation, where he said Nance had "snapped" and randomly shot Bakare and Guerrero. Detectives told Hansen they did not believe he was being honest, particularly after he repeatedly declined to say who received the gloves and clothes he wore on the day of the shooting.

No trial date for testimony or closing arguments has been set in the record described for Wednesday's proceedings.